Franchise or Independent: What the Disclosure Documents Show

In the US, a franchisor must give a prospective franchisee a Franchise Disclosure Document (FDD) before any agreement is signed. It's a long document in numbered items, and three of them matter most for planning:

• Item 7: the estimated initial investment, as a table of low and high figures per cost, with notes on what's assumed.
• Item 19: financial performance representations, if the franchisor chooses to make any.
• Item 20: how many outlets opened, closed and transferred.

Even if you plan to go independent, Item 7 of a pickleball FDD is useful: it's a franchisor's line-by-line estimate of what a whole club costs. We use these documents only as data. Nothing here recommends a brand, or the franchise route over going independent.

Three things to read in every Item 7. First, what the building is assumed to be: The Picklr's figures assume a leased "vanilla shell" with a concrete floor, working HVAC and utilities stubbed in, and exclude land or building purchase. Second, the court count: a range covering 6 to 10 courts hides a big difference per court. Third, the additional funds line: The Picklr lists $25,000–$100,000 for three months; a summary of Pickleball Kingdom's lists $160,000–$348,000. Those are the franchisors' estimates for opening months, not a promise of when revenue covers costs.

The Picklr's 2025 FDD sets a royalty of 7% of gross sales. Summaries of the Ace and Pickleball Kingdom documents also show 7%. Advertising or brand funds of 1–2% of gross sales are typical in these documents.

The arithmetic is simple and worth doing with your own numbers. As an illustration only: on $1,000,000 of gross sales a year, a 7% royalty is $70,000 and a 2% ad fund another $20,000, paid whether or not the club covers its costs, because both are a share of sales, not profit.

Item 19 is where franchisors may publish what existing outlets earn. In these documents, very little is published.

• The Picklr, 2025: "We do not make any representations about a franchisee's future financial performance." No earnings are disclosed. Its Item 20 shows outlets going from 7 to 24 during 2024, so most locations were new.
• Ace Pickleball Club, 2025 (from a summary): one affiliate-owned club in months 6–17 of operation, with annual gross sales of about $1,528,287 and monthly net operating income ranging from −$13,124 to +$40,807. Unaudited; a single outlet.
• Pickleball Kingdom, 2024 (from a summary): one company-owned location with gross revenue of $1,678,118 for the 12 months to 31 December 2023. Unaudited, and revenue only, without costs.

One location each, unaudited, and in one case a monthly result that swings from a loss to a gain: that's not a basis for anyone's forecast, including ours. The swing itself is the most useful number here. It shows how much month-to-month variation a single busy club can see.

Going independent means no franchise fee and no royalty, and full control of the layout, pricing and programs. It also means doing yourself what a franchisor packages: site selection, layout, build-out management, booking and access systems, brand, opening marketing and the program calendar.

The space work is the same either way. You still need a building with the height and grid for your courts, and you still need the court count before any of the numbers mean anything. A franchisor's site criteria (for example, 18,000–30,000 sq ft for 6–10 courts in The Picklr's 2025 document) are a useful cross-check against your own plan, whichever route you take.

Whether you're reading an FDD or building your own plan, these questions apply:

• What building condition and size does each cost line assume? What's excluded?
• How many courts does the cost estimate cover, and what does that make per court?
• How many outlets are open, how long have they been open, and how many have closed or transferred (Item 20)?
• Is there any Item 19 data? How many locations, audited or not, revenue only or costs too?
• What are the royalty, ad fund and technology fees, and are any minimums charged regardless of sales?
• Who chooses the site and approves the layout? Can you use a building whose columns cost a court?
• Can you speak to current owners, including those of the newest locations?

Have a franchise lawyer and an accountant review any FDD before you sign. Then run your own numbers through the break-even calculator, including the royalty as a cost.

Not financial advice. This page explains a planning method and quotes published, dated ranges. It isn't financial, legal or investment advice, and nothing here predicts that a facility will make money or how long it would take. Talk to an accountant, a lawyer and your lender before you commit.